Herald's Rest
by Inanis Incedeco
Summary: Josephine overworks herself late at night, but discovers that her Inquisitor isn't sleeping either.


Josephine laid her head very gingerly on her desk, and breathed a heavy sigh. No one else in Skyhold was up at this ungodly hour. Her servants and assistants had long since gone to bed, and even the birds had settled down for the night. For several hours, their little dragonling, Vera, had stayed up with her, sitting beside her desk, but now even she had gone to bed, curled up in front of the roaring fireplace.

It used to be, on these long nights, that Leliana would come down from her Rookery, her hood pulled down for once, and would sit opposite her, making small talk into the early hours of the morning. But now she had reunited with her Warden, and the two of them spent their nights together instead. She understood, of course, but it still got incredibly lonely on these long nights, filling out papers and signing treaties. Her Inquisitor, Cantis, had repeatedly offered to join her on these nights, but she knew just how hard he worked during the daytime. He needed sleep more than any of them.

She plucked the latest Orlesian trading treaty, and another note came out, fluttering to the ground. Inside of it was a letter with her name on it, and it was his rough, scratchy handwriting.

 _Please don't work too hard, you make me worry so much about you when you stay up so late. I miss you._

She smiled with a full heart at his sweet words. For the warrior who sat on the dragon's throne, who could destroy the world with a word, he was the sweetest man she had ever met, and she was utterly in love. She had been ever since that duel, where he had admitted his feelings towards her, and she realized that she felt the same.

That was it. She laid down the paper, and stood. Whatever these people wanted, they could wait another few hours.

She had an Inquisitor to snuggle.

* * *

Josephine crept as quietly as she could into his quarters, holding Vera tightly in her arms. It had taken some time for her to be used to the idea of taking care of a baby dragon, especially after Haven, but the girl had quickly grown on her.

Entering the room, she froze a little.

She had expected him to be fast asleep, the mauve silken blankets of their Orlesian bed pulled over his head. Instead he was sitting in a chair pulled up to the window, looking at the rays of moonlight above.

"Amore?" She murmured, and he turned to give her a tired smile that made her heart lurch. There were shadows in his eyes, and his face was heavy and exhausted.

"Josie." He stood, pushing the chair back to behind the desk. "I was wondering when you'd come up."

"You should have gone to bed hours ago." She scolded a little, although she knew quite well why he was awake, why he rarely slept anymore.

He gave an amused chuckled under his breath, stepping towards her and petting the dragon in her arms. Vera gave a tiny _meep_ of exhaustion, rolling her head over and throwing a paw in front of her eyes, making both of them laugh. Josephine set the dragon on the rug, where it curled up. Then he was around her waist, wrapping himself around her and she could feel the warmth of him in the cold Skyhold night.

They stood there for a moment, relaxed, safe and comfortable, before she broke all of that with a sentence, her words gentle and quiet.

"You were dreaming of Haven again, weren't you?"

He nodded grimly. "I don't think I'll ever stop having nightmares of that place."

"I'm sorry."

Cantis gave a weary sigh, and shook his head. "Don't be. I-"

Josephine turned and slipped out of his arms, and silenced him with a kiss. She knew exactly what he was going to say, and she didn't want to hear it. He was going to say that Haven was his fault, that he should have known that this Elder One would be coming, that the Breach was his fault in the first place and he deserved every bad thing in the world. None of which was true.

"Come to bed." She whispered, and he nodded. With Josephine in his arms, not even the worst nightmares of the world could hurt him.

It didn't take long for her to be in her nightgown, nervously aware of just how fleshy her thighs were, of her rounded hips. Her figure had once been the envy of the Imperial Court, and now she would be laughed out if they saw her. But those thoughts melted away when she saw Cantis sitting on the edge of the bed, a smile on his face as he watched her. He knew what she was thinking, and it was ridiculous. She was _beautiful_ , beyond words.

Soon, they found a comfortable position together, with Josephine laying atop him, half on and half off, his arms curled around her, relaxed into the soft, warm skin of her back.

But even that couldn't stop the dark thoughts that plagued his mind, and Josephine knew it. She laid a hand out and over his chest, and leaned up, just a little, murmuring softly, like a mother would.

" _I know_."

He opened his mouth to reply, but she trailed her free hand up, silencing him with a finger over his lips, before slipping it down, entwining their hands together. "Ti amo tanto." She whispered. He didn't understand the words, but it was clear that it was words of love. " _Sei_ , la mia anima gemella. Ti penso ogni giorno, e Non posso vivere senza te." She looked up at him, meeting those chestnut brown eyes of his. "Voglio passare il resto della mia vita con te."

His eyes fluttered closed, and he smiled widely, holding her close. He didn't know what she had said, but he knew what it meant.

And the nightmares of Haven didn't come again.

* * *

 _Translation for Josephine's Italian: I love you so much. You, are my soulmate. I think about you every day, and I can't live without you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you._


End file.
